


the wedding

by minkit



Category: IT (2017), IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Eddie actually got divorced, M/M, Richie is a radio dj, the gang didn't know each other for the most part previous to meeting here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 14:48:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20677154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkit/pseuds/minkit
Summary: Richie Tozier has his own radio show. At least once a week an annoying caller by the name of Eddie Kaspbrak will call in just to argue with him. The last thing Richie expected was to then run into said annoyance at his best friend Beverly’s wedding. Well fuck.





	the wedding

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU where Pennywise doesn’t exist, the Losers gang never knew each other (Bev and Richie were best friends, meanwhile Ben and Eddie were friends and through life they all met the rest of the gang). It takes place in about 2016, like the current movie, so they’re all about 40 years old here. I hope you like it!!

Richie Tozier was a little bit tired of this. Almost every week, at least once a week. He would get the same call from the same person--honestly, it had become a joke to his audience. And he always promptly turned it into jokes, but truthfully? Yeah, he was exhausted. Why the fuck did the guy listen to his radio show if he obviously hated his radio show? 

He was a shock DJ. He was an asshole with a rude mouth and crude jokes and that’s exactly what his audience tuned in for. It was basically a satire, to a point, but this person, this Kapsbrak as he had learned his name was, just didn’t really seem to get it. Instead Kaspbrak opted to call in at least once a week to get into an argument with something that Richie was saying. It was getting on his fucking nerves.

A part of him thought maybe he’d have to end up blocking the number from the station eventually, but audiences always seemed to get a kick out of it and who was he to deny his audience a good laugh? That’s what he aimed for after all. Richie would just have to deal with it. That shouldn’t be… too difficult. Hopefully. 

Oh, he thought to himself when that familiar name was told to him during the break. But it is.

The series of events went a little bit like this. Richie would make up a script for the day’s show. If it was a Monday or Wednesday there was a good chance of a call. Today happened to be a Wednesday. Mr. Kaspbrak wouldn’t agree with something he said or maybe he had a bit too much knowledge about something he said and so would call in to have a very heated discussion about it. Richie would make jokes which just seemed to get the caller annoyed which caused even more jokes at the brunt of Mr. Kaspbrak’s expense. Yet he still always called in the next week. It was almost a running joke for him and his listeners and often the guy was the topic of joking conversation amongst his co-workers. 

Richie almost felt bad for the dude. Almost. He was too annoying to feel truly bad after all. 

Today wasn’t any different than any other normal week. Richie was pretty sure he had the guy’s voice memorized. He had to admit, it was kind of a nice voice, but definitely not the sort of voice he’d want to fall asleep listening to. If the dude had a wife, he felt for her. What would a person have to have done in their past life to get stuck with that annoyance? 

It wasn’t like Richie himself wasn’t annoying, but at least he was a funny kind of annoying. This Kaspbrak person definitely couldn’t say the same. 

When Kaspbrak hung up from his weekly tormenting call, the show had just about come to an end and so Richie began his sign off to let the next host begin theirs. After finishing up, he stood from his seat, stretching and grabbing his pack of Marlboros before stepping out onto the roof for a smoke. 

The sun had begun to set over the horizon. It was a beautiful mixture of orange and pink. The breeze was nice and warm as they were deep into the middle of summer and for a brief moment, he thought about his childhood home, running through the forests and riding bikes across down. It had been so long ago. A part of him missed it. The other part of him was fucking ecstatic that he was no longer stuck in that rural piece of shit town with piece of shit people. 

Well, piece of shit people--all except for one. 

Bev--Beverly. The love of his life. If he were into women, that is. As it was, he wasn’t, and she was relegated to platonic love, kind of like a sister, but less annoying than the one he actually had. It was a tragic loss for her, he was sure, but either way, she was happily engaged and in just a few short hours he would be on a plane to attend her wedding on the upcoming Friday evening.

“Ah, shit…” Richie cursed out, stubbing out his cigarette on the railing of the roof. He was on the wrong side of forty about to attend his best friend’s second marriage and he hadn’t even been married once. Hell, the last time he had dated someone… he couldn’t even remember the last time that he had dated someone, if he was entirely honest. Most people didn’t really go for aging men with receding hairlines and a slight belly. That’s just how the world worked and Richie was pretty resigned to the fact that he would probably end up dying an old bachelor. 

Well, he got money and a slight bit of fame from his radio show and old comedy show. But you really can't have everything.

Yeah. Maybe Richie was lonely.

-

“Holy shit.” Richie whistled as he looked around the large hall. It was more of a ballroom than the banquet hall that he had been told it was. He had money, but Ben had money. He wondered what it was about Bev that only seemed to attract rich men, but whatever it was, Richie wished he could have some of it. Then again, he’d never trade in his dick for tits and a vagina so maybe it was a useless wish. 

“I know right?” Bev breathed from next to him, her red hair messy, but she was positively beaming as she looked around the room. Richie had truly never seen her happier and if Ben ever broke her heart or hurt her, Richie would be preparing himself for a murder. 

“Jesus, Bev,” he shook his head, turning to look at her completely. He raised his arms up for a moment, gesturing to the entire area. It was decked out in white and gold and for some reason New Kids on the Block was playing on the PA system as the staff got all of the decorations set up and finished for the wedding the next day. “How do you get better than this? If I were to ever get married it’d probably be in Vegas to a one-night stand or a hooker who then takes off with all my money and my alcohol and you? Shit--you’re making out.”

She could only laugh and smile, nodding in agreement just as someone swooped in behind her, enveloping her into his arms and kissing her cheek. Richie couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest bit jealous, even as he was happy for her.

“Did I hear something about making out? I can’t wait to get to do that with my wife.” Ben stated a little dreamily, which made sense considering Ben was a dreamy hunk himself. Richie never would’ve guessed when Bev showed him his middle school pictures. Overweight and short and he had become this? What the hell had gone wrong in Richie’s life?

“That’s going to have to wait for tomorrow.” Bev jokes, but even still leaned in to kiss her husband. And then the kiss lingered and lingered some more and Richie started to feel a little bit awkward when the two of them had finally broken apart. “Did the others get here okay?” 

“Yeah, they got here.” Ben assured before looking up and over at Richie with a smile. “We invited our other closest friends and thought the seven of us could all go out for dinner. Most of them don’t actually really know each other all that well so if you’re worried about it, you don’t need to be.” 

“Me? Worry? Psh,” he waved the concern off even though yup. He was a little bit worried. “I don’t do such things.”

“Good--although,” he turned back to his fiancee. “Eddie is going to be a little bit late, he had some issues with the airport so he had to catch a later flight but he will be there at the dinner, I told the others we’d push it back an extra hour just to make sure he can get here.”

“Well, I hope he can make it.” Bev stepped away, grasping at Richie’s wrist. “Come on, Rich.”

“Oh wait, what’s this? Am I invited to having a threesome, Bev? I thought you’d never ask.” Ben only laughed at that before wishing them farewell and heading off. Richie turned to Bev with a smile. “He is definitely a keeper.”

“Oh--I know.”

-

Okay, so, Richie actually had nothing to be worried about meeting Ben and Beverly’s other friends because they were fucking great. Honestly, he really should’ve known. If those two liked them, they had to be cool. And Richie actually got along with them great. They laughed at his jokes and didn’t seem to mind his crude mouth and humor and that was always the sign of a possibly budding friendship. The dinner table was practically roaring after he finished telling the story of a time as a kid that he had actually stalked a circus clown because he’d seen that movie about the crazy supernatural clown that feasted on kids. 

Richie was feeling pretty good with himself. And then the seventh person arrived and Richie kind of felt a little bit breathless upon seeing him.

It’s not like the guy was stunning like Ben, or the sort of put-together, professor, nerd hot that Stan was. In fact, the guy was pretty damn average but for some reason, that suited Richie just perfectly fine.

And then the guy opened his mouth and Richie could’ve sworn the headache started almost immediately.

That voice. He knew that voice. He heard that voice every fucking week when it called in to argue with him about his current topic. There was no way he was wrong about this and Richie wanted to disappear. Surely the night was about to be ruined with this loser. How the hell did Bev and Ben know this guy?

“Eddie!” Bev cheered as he came in, her laughter halting in favor of a smile as she jumped up and hugged him. The man stiffened for a brief moment before hugging her back and Richie wondered what was wrong with the guy to not want to be hugged by a beautiful girl like Beverly. “Guys--this is Ben’s childhood best friend, Eddie Kaspbrak.” Oh fuck. “Eddie, this is Bill, Mike, Stan, and Richie. You might recognize Bill, he’s an author and Richie--you two are actually both from the city. Richie has a radio show.”

“Richie Tozier,” Eddie stated and Richie wanted to shrivel up at the sound of this annoying voice. How could he have been taken with him upon first look? He wanted to shoot himself. Which would be pretty easy considering America’s gun laws he could literally just go out and buy one and… “Yeah--yeah, I’ve heard his show.” 

And that’s all that was said. No acknowledgement to the fact that not only had he heard Richie’s show, but that he called in every fucking week? Really? Richie’s eyebrow twitched. Well, couldn’t like everyone, he supposed.

“Yeah you heard it?” Richie stated, his voice suddenly lost of humor and Eddie gave a small smile, joining at the last remaining empty seat which… just so happened to be right next to Richie.

Oh fuck him.

“Once or twice.” And that’s all that was said on that as the table dived back into conversation, asking Eddie all about his life and what he did for a living. Risk analyst. Richie almost wanted to fall asleep. He was divorced as of about a year and basically nothing else. Damn, the guy was boring.

He also seemed to be pointedly ignoring Richie. Well fuck him too. 

It wasn’t like Richie cared. Well… maybe cared a little bit, but only because of how fucking rude a person has to be to just ignore someone sitting right next to them at their friends’ wedding. Isn’t this the time they should all be trying to get along? Apparently they were all super important in Bev and Ben’s life (and no, Richi was not jealous, except maybe he was, just a little bit) so there was a good chance they would all end up seeing each other again.

Why not just try to get along with each other? 

But fine, if Eduardo (he was pretty sure that wasn’t his name, but Richie sort of thought that if Eduardo couldn’t deign to at least pretend he exists then he can’t deign to pretend to give a rat’s ass about his actual name) Kaspbrak wanted to not have anything to do with Richie, he was just fine with that. Eduardo was pretty damn annoying on his radio show anyway. Why would he want to talk to a person like that?

But Richie tried not to let his annoyance show, tried to tell just as many jokes, crude or otherwise to the table. Most everyone laughed, all except for the shorty next to him--who just stared. It was actually a little bit unnerving and Richie had to force himself to ignore it. 

Eventually, however, the night ended and everyone bid goodnight and headed back to the hotel they were set up in on behalf of Ben and Bev (they would have invited them to stay, but didn’t have nearly enough rooms for them to each have their own and so thought it would be unfair since all 5 of them were equally as important to them, apparently). 

And, of course, his room seemed to be in the exact same direction as Eduardo. Cue the awkward silence. 

…  
…  
…  
Okay, yeah this was absolutely ridiculous.

“So,” Richie stated, staring straight ahead at the doors of the elevator that seemed to never want to open. Were they really both heading all the way to the top? And the others weren’t? “Kaspbrak--you’re not the Kaspbrak that keeps calling into my show, are you? I know you said you only heard my show once or twice, but… odd coincidence. Not a common name.” 

He side-eyed him and was vaguely pleased with the way the other man’s skin got somehow even paler at his words. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Richie hummed, pleased and the elevator doors open before he stepped off.

Only to be followed by a hesitant Eduardo. Ah shit. Same floor too? Really?

It was time for a joke.

“You know, if you want an autograph, you just have to ask. You don’t have to stalk me.”

The scowl that painted itself on the other man’s face was almost as hilarious as the sudden statement of being told to shut the fuck up. Richie laughed, his hands sliding into his pockets. Oh, so the guy had a temper huh? 

Nope. You don’t find that cute, Richie, not at all.

“You know, I kinda thought I was some sort of invisible freak during dinner, didn’t even want to look at me. If you hate my show that much, why the fuck do you call every single week?” Okay, so maybe that came out a little bit angrier than Richie had intended, but what he had said was true. A normal person wouldn’t continue to listen to a show done by a radio host that they apparently hated so much that they outright ignored them and lied about ever hearing their show.

“Who said I hate your show?” The man questioned back, pulling out his hotel room keycard instead of saying more and starting off down the hall. Nope. No way. Richie was not going to let him get away that easy. 

He grabbed his arm and the other gave him a glare, knocking it off. Richie stepped back, holding up his arms. “Well, the way you can’t seem to stop arguing me on Mondays, sometimes Wednesdays like this week, kinda says otherwise. Yet… who in their right mind puts themself through that torture. All you seem to want to do is argue with me. I’m just trying to do my show for people who actually like my show.”

“Oh,” Eduardo--okay, maybe he was getting a little tired of that, Eddie--gave a short little smirk. Richie was actually taken aback. So this guy really did have a personality beneath all that boring persona he had put on at dinner. “Are you afraid of a little bit of a challenge on your show? Don’t like to be questioned? You know that’s really not healthy, thinking you’re right all the time and being upset if someone challenges you.”

“I didn’t say that.” He interrupted quickly, feeling frustrated, just as he did when he got a call from this loser. “You just seem to have some sort of obsession with me.”

“I don’t.” Eddie said quickly and with that, he inserted his keycard into his hotel room door and closed it on Richie’s face.

He stared at the door. “Well… okay then.”

-

Once again, New Kids on the Block was playing loudly throughout the hall, but this time the hall was full of a good hundred or so people. There was laughter and dancing and then there was Richie, sitting at a table with his plate of food and watching.

Ben and Beverly kept pressing their heads together, whispering and giggling as they danced and they were joined by Bill and his wife along with Stan and his as well as every other person that Richie didn’t know. How had these two gotten so many friends?

Richie didn’t mind sitting alone. Not really. Or so he tried to tell himself as a woman asked Mike to dance and he followed her out onto the floor. What was this? An 8th grade formal?

He took a long drink of his whiskey just as someone sat down next to him. He almost choked when he saw Kaspbrak. This annoying hypochondriac willingly sitting next to him instead of straight out ignoring him? What were the chances?

“Ben and Bev make a cute couple.” Eddie stated without much thought as to whom he was talking to, apparently. Richie kind of just stared, a little bit in disbelief that there seemed to be no hostility in the other man’s voice. 

“Uh, I guess.” They did and Richie shrugged, leaning back into the chair, the jacket of his suit laid over the back of it, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His shirt was a little bit wrinkly, but he thought that it wasn’t too bad.

Eddie on the other hand looked almost as pressed and perfect as that guy Stan did. The blue of his tie went nicely with his skin and Richie cursed himself for noticing things like that.

There was really nothing special to look at when it came to Eddie Kaspbrak, but maybe that’s kind of what fascinated Richie about him. It seemed like nowadays everyone was almost too gorgeous, especially amongst the group of friends that Richie did have. Kaspbrak was somewhat plain, but going off of the personality he showcased over his show, his personality was anything but and it was a bit intriguing. And really, it’s not like plain was a bad thing, it’s not like plain means unattractive.

Eddie Kaspbrak definitely wasn’t unattractive but Richie kind of hated himself for noticing that.

“I don’t hate your show.” Eddie said suddenly, but he wasn’t looking at him. Richie wondered if he was embarrassed or something. “Actually, I’ve been listening to your show for about a year. Maybe a little longer.”

Richie tried to think back to when the calls started. Probably four or so months ago. So Kaspbrak had been listening to him for much longer than that. “Oh yeah? Then why the fuck do you keep calling to argue with me?”

“I told you,” He reminded, giving a small smile as he takes a sip of his own drink. “Someone needs to challenge you. Wouldn’t you get a little bored if people only ever agreed with what you said?”

He thought about it for a moment. Actually, yeah, he probably would get bored. He was a little bored as it was recently. Having a radio show that ran five days a week was hard as shit and some days, he honestly wanted to throw his script in the air and quit just like that, but then he realized he didn’t know how to do fuck all else.

“So, you listen to my show and enjoy it, but still call to argue with me? Okay.” Richie gave a slow nod, pretending as if any of that made sense and finished off his whiskey. He really needed some more. “How the fuck did a person like you even come across my show.”

“It’s the radio, it’s not hard.” Eddie rolled his eyes, sipping some more at his drink. “Actually,” he cleared his throat, lightly tapping his hand on the table. “Your show actually helped me out.”

“Really?” He scrunched his brows, confused. “How so?”

“It helped me divorce my wife.”

Silence. “Oh…” He said slowly, unsure of what a person was to say to something like that. I’m sorry? Good for you? But Eddie had said helped, so Richie was assuming that it was a good thing. “You’re welcome…?” He questioned slowly, hoping that was the right answer.

Eddie laughed and Richie almost gulped. Okay. Wow. Yeah, so. That was actually quite a nice sound. Fuck. 

“Trust me, it was a good thing. It was…” Eddie shook his head, letting out a breath that almost sound as if he had been holding in for awhile. “It wasn’t a good relationship--it was… fairly abusive. On her part. Shit. I must be drunk.” He raised his glass. “Can’t believe I actually told you that.”

“Hey, well, glad I could help you divorce your wife.” If that was indeed a good thing, Richie really was happy to help the other get out of something toxic. Nobody deserved to be in those sorts of relationships and too many people seemed to get stuck in them. 

“It was one of your first shows that I heard… and then I just kept listening.” 

Richie understood, he supposed. Maybe it was just in Eddie’s nature to want to argue with people. Some were like that. Hell, Richie was kinda like that, but he did it more out of amusement than anything else, and, when he thought about it, Eddie’s calls really were the highlight of his week. He never actually truly minded them. 

The talking between the two of them continued. More drinks followed and they got a little louder, laughing and arguing over the sound of the music. A lot of “fucks” were involved in their conversation, usually followed by “you” and though if someone were to hear, they’d probably think they were truly arguing, but it felt more playful than anything and Richie honestly couldn’t remember a time when he had had more fun talking to someone.

This hadn’t been at all what he expected when Eddie Kaspbrak sat down next to him. He hadn’t expected to get along with him, he hadn’t expected to enjoy talking and teasing (and boy was there a lot he was finding to tease) and he hadn’t expected the other to give just as good as he got. He wasn’t expecting to have so much fun. And he wasn’t expecting to actually make a new friend.

At least, that’s where it was heading. Friendship. Richie hoped Eddie might think the same. They lived in the same general area and Richie honestly wanted to talk to him more, hang out like this some more. It was fun and he felt at ease. Relaxed. Youthful almost, even.

Before Richie had even realized it, it was eleven pm and the hall was starting to clear out. The only ones left was the small group that made up Ben and Bev’s closest friends along with Bill and Stan’s wives. Even they, however, were starting to bid goodnight and Richie groaned, looking at all of the empty glasses that littered the table he and Eddie sat at. 

Eddie looked wasted as hell and Richie was sure he looked about the same. His shirt was somehow messier than it was before and he could tell that his dark curls had started escaping from the way that he had styled his hair. Richie looked Eddie over, his flushed face and kind of mussed hair and he thought, cute.

Fuck.

“I’m so drunk…” Eddie laughed, groaning as he covered his face with his hands. Richie could actually go for another drink after all this. “Ugh--I should get to the hotel and try and sleep this off before my flight tomorrow.”

“Same,” Richie stated, jumping on the opportunity to spend a little bit more time with this man. “I’ll head back with you. Let’s wish the happy couple our well thoughts and head back, huh?”

Eddie nodded as if Richie inviting himself along was completely normal and the two of them went up, congratulating Ben and Bev on their marriage and wishing them only the happiest of lives. They also said goodbye to the remaining people and headed out.

The brisk air felt good on Richie’s heated skin and he glanced over at Eddie, seeing the man closing his eyes, his arms held out just a tiny bit. He wondered what he was thinking, but he didn’t dare interrupt and ask.

After a moment, Eddie shook his head and shot him a smile and Richie couldn’t help but smile back, his heart lurching. This had to be the effects of the alcohol. Really, truly, this had to be the alcohol’s fault. There was no way he, a forty year old man, was getting butterflies over some annoying shithead he had technically just met. No absolute way.

Richie already knew he was doomed. 

They walked the short distance back to the hotel (it was literally just down the street, thankfully) in silence. For most of Richie’s life, he had been perfectly happy to just be. He made jokes, but he didn’t act on his urges. A few times, sure. He had dated once or twice but they had never truly gone anywhere. He’d had a few girlfriends, those lasted longer purely because he wasn’t interested in them beyond friendship. Eventually they had all seen that as well, and the relationships ended however. 

It’d been a struggle to grow up in the late 80s and 90s, being gay, being alone. He’d had Bev, but she was dealing with her own shit. He never felt comfortable saying it. Richie was pretty sure that she had figured it out long ago however.

But damnit all to hell, if he couldn’t stop thinking about how cute this shorty was next to him, Richie didn’t know what he was going to do. The guy had been married. To a woman. Obviously he wasn’t into men and even if he were, he’d probably go for guys like Mike or Ben. Definitely not a guy like Richie who looked his age and didn’t act like it. 

So he should really just stop thinking about it, but his drunken brain didn’t want to. His drunken brain kept wondering what his lips tasted like and telling him that it would be a very good time to see if Eddie wondered the same, because he may never get a second shot.

He decided to ignore that part of his brain.

Soon enough, they were on their floor and, without even really thinking, Richie was walking Eddie towards his hotel room even though his was in the opposite direction, all the way down the hall. Eddie, if he noticed, didn’t say anything though which saved Richie from a lifetime full of embarrassment he was sure.

“So,” Richie wanted to make a joke now that they were at Eddie’s door and Eddie was fumbling, trying to pull his keycard out of his wallet, but his mind had gone blank, his mouth a little dry. How could someone, with barely one conversation (actually, when he thought about it, it was over a dozen conversations spanning about four months), have this effect on him?

“Shit…” Eddie cursed as he dropped the keycard and at once the two of them bent over to pick it up, their heads knocking and they both groaned. Inside, Richie wondered what kind of cliche was this and he set his hands on the keycard, right on top of Eddie’s.

Wow, he thought to himself, the cliche got worse.

But they stared at each other and Richie’s palms were sweating. He licked over his dry lips, stomach lurching and holy shit, this was actually rather intense. Eddie’s eyes were rather intense--a deep brown that Richie didn’t want to stop looking at.

He shook his head, quickly handing the keycard back over and standing, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. Eddie stood a little slower, playing with the keycard in his hand. The silence was thick. Richie wanted to break it, to joke, to do or say something. 

“Yeah, so I should get go--” but then he was silenced. Lips pressed onto his, fingers clutching at the back of his head with a force that Richie was almost positive was going to leave bruising. He gasped, his mouth open and he could almost taste the alcohol on Eddie’s lips. Right. Drunk. They were both pretty damn drunk, but this? Yeah, this felt nice and Richie didn’t exactly want to pull away.

So he didn’t. Instead he raised his hand, sliding it along the side of the shorter man’s jaw. He could feel a slight scruff there, but he was fairly cleanly shaved. Not like Richie, who had kept the scruff and only cleaned it up for the wedding. He stepped forward, pressing the other closer towards the door, but Eddie seemed like he was having none of that, instead switching them around to press Richie against the door. He could feel the door handle against his back and shifted, but he kept his mouth firmly pressed onto Eddie’s.

Soon enough though, both of them needed air and they pulled back, looking at each other in their drunken haze. Richie’s mind was a little clearer and shit, man, what the fuck had just happened?

So he asked and Eddie shook his head, looking almost embarrassed but mostly determined as he slid the key into the pad. The door beeped green and suddenly Richie was tugged inside of Eddie Kaspbrak’s hotel room, and there was no more time to think.

-

It was the following Monday and Richie couldn’t stop thinking about the previous Friday night. It had been… a night. One that had gone quickly and slowly all at once and he still remembered the taste of Eddie’s lips and skin on his.

Richie had actually never been one for one-night-stands, and something told him Eddie hadn’t either. But they had both just gone for it, forgetting everything for the night and when it was over, Richie could hardly want to pull himself from the bed and back to his hotel room. They hadn’t really had a chance to talk it over, both of them having to prepare for their flights (unfortunately different ones at different times) back home. And, upon getting on the flight, he had forgotten to ask Eddie for his number and felt… disappointed.

He wondered if he should text Bev and asked her but by now she and Ben would be on their honeymoon and he really didn’t want to bother her. Wouldn’t it be strange? So he resigned himself to never knowing it, not unless Eddie wanted him to know it. Eddie knew how to reach him, but Richie didn’t know how to reach Eddie.

And now it was Monday and he wondered if Eddie was going to call in but it was close to the end of his show for the day and nothing. No hint of Eddie Kaspbrak calling in to argue and he just wasn’t feeling like his usual self. His co-hosts seemed to notice, giving him a few looks here in there, silently asking him what was wrong but Richie pointedly ignored those inquiries. 

Then suddenly, “I have a hypothetical question for all of you.” He spoke into the microphone, the others looking taken aback. He lightly tapped his fingers on the desk. “And all you listeners, feel free to call in, give me your opinion. But say… you are going to your best friend’s wedding. It’s a gorgeous wedding with a gorgeous couple and you meet this annoying as hell person. Clearly doesn’t seem to like you very much. Ignores you, does all that sort of shit. But then you both get drunk,”

“Are we sure this is a hypothetical question, Rich?” The female co-host said into the mic, a smile playing at her face. “Didn’t you say that you were attending your friend’s wedding last week.” 

“Okay, Nicole,” Richie stated, turning to look at her, grinning jokingly. “Just because your life is boring as fuck, doesn’t mean you need to air my business all over the radio for everyone to hear. This is a hypothetical question.”

“Okay, okay--we’ll go with that, Rich.”

“Yes we will,” he chuckled, turning back towards the mic. “Anyway, before little miss Nicole interrupted me over here, as I was saying, you both get drunk and have sex. Like it’s awesome sex, but you both have to leave before either of you can exchange numbers. What the fuck do you do? Do you just forget about it and leave it as a one-night-stand, or would you try to chase the person down and see if it can’t become something more. Totally asking for a friend here, this is not from personal experience.” Everyone around him laughed because it so clearly was.

From outside the soundproof window, one of the workers made a phone symbol and Richie spoke into the mic. “And it seems we already have a caller--that was fast. The person must also like getting into people’s business just like with Nicole. Okay, caller, what’s your name, where you from, and what you got to say?”

“Yeah,” Richie gulped. That voice… “Yeah, this is Eddie Kaspbrak--actually, I have a lot to say about this topic.”

He was silent for a moment, at a loss for words and the others all stared at him. He shook himself from his thoughts. “Of course you do, Mr. Kaspbrak. Well, I’m sure we’d all love to hear from our favorite caller. What you got to say?” 

And as Eddie rambled, clearly bullshitting, Richie smiled. Maybe there was some hope for something after all.


End file.
